After a week of squandered opportunities, bullpen disasters, and an AL West race that increasingly resembled a contest to see who could avoid winning it, the Astros finally did something emphatic Saturday night.
Houston pounded the Athletics 13-2 at Sutter Health Park, collecting 16 hits and five home runs to keep pace with Texas and send the division race to the 162nd and final game of the regular season.
The Rangers had already beaten the Twins 6-2, leaving Houston needing a win to remain tied atop the AL West. The Astros responded with their biggest offensive outburst of the series. Houston and Texas enter Sunday at 80-81, with the Astros holding the head-to-head tiebreaker after winning the season series 9-4.
The Bats Finally Break Loose
Isaac Paredes started the scoring with a solo home run in the first inning, his 25th of the season.
Jeremy Peña added a two-run homer in the third after Cam Smith walked, giving Houston a 3-0 lead. Peña was just getting started.
The Athletics scored an unearned run in the fourth, but Yordan Alvarez delivered the biggest blow of the night in the fifth. After Smith walked and Peña singled, Alvarez launched a three-run homer to right for his 42nd of the season, stretching the lead to 6-1.
Houston kept piling on. Jose Altuve drove in Peña with a single in the seventh, Christian Walker added a sacrifice fly, and Lucas Spence doubled home Altuve as the Astros pushed the lead to 9-1.
Peña struck again in the eighth with his second home run of the night, a two-run shot that gave him 22 for the season. Alvarez followed with a double and later scored on Altuve’s second RBI single of the game.
Spence supplied the final exclamation point in the ninth with his fourth career home run.
The five-homer barrage also pulled Houston even with the Yankees for the Major League lead with 225 home runs. With one game remaining, the Astros have a chance to finish the season as MLB’s home run leader despite an offense that has spent much of the final stretch struggling to score.
Peña finished 4-for-6 with four runs and four RBI. Alvarez went 2-for-5 with three RBI, while Paredes had three hits. Altuve, Yainer Diaz, and Spence each had two hits as Houston went 6-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
Wesneski Gives the Bullpen a Break
The offensive explosion also allowed Hayden Wesneski to give Houston something nearly as valuable: rest for its bullpen.
Wesneski went seven innings, allowing six hits and two runs, only one earned, with one walk and five strikeouts. He threw 82 pitches and improved to 6-2 with a 3.25 ERA.
Ronel Blanco handled the final two innings without allowing a hit or a run, striking out three and walking one. Houston got through the entire night using only two pitchers, preserving the rest of the bullpen for Game 162.
Yordan’s Remarkable Season Continues
Alvarez’s three-run homer pushed him past his previous career high of 104 RBI. He enters the final game of the season batting .316 with 42 home runs and 105 RBI.
His Triple Crown pursuit is effectively over with one game remaining. Alvarez trails Pete Alonso by one home run and eight RBI, but holds a 10-point lead over Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson in the batting race.
One Game for the AL West
And so, after 161 games, the Astros and Rangers are tied at 80-81.
Houston’s advantage is the tiebreaker. A win over the Athletics on Sunday gives the Astros the AL West title regardless of what Texas does against Minnesota. If Houston loses, a Rangers loss also gives the Astros the division. Texas needs both a win and an Astros loss to take the West.
Whoever advances will make history. Neither Houston nor Texas can finish better than 81-81, guaranteeing the first full-season division champion in MLB history without a winning record. The previous low was the 2005 Padres, who won the NL West at 82-80.
For Houston, 2026 will also be its first full season without a winning record since 2014, when the Astros went 70-92. The distinction matters: Houston also finished 29-31 during the pandemic-shortened 60-game season in 2020.
Game 162 begins Sunday at 2:05 p.m. CT at Sutter Health Park. Peter Lambert (8-10, 3.87 ERA) will start for Houston against Seth Johnson (1-0, 6.19 ERA). The season series between Houston and the Athletics is tied 6-6. Space City Home Network will carry the game.
After everything, it comes down to one more game.
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